Joe Davey

Joe’s entry into the sport was a little bittersweet at first.

“I had been playing basketball, but my arms and shoulders were getting weaker, and it became too hard,” Joe explains. “So, I started thinking, ‘what other sports are there?’”

One option was lawn bowls and Joe now plays for Fremantle. He’ll be representing them in the All-Abilities WA State Championships in April.

Then someone asked him if he had thought about hockey. That someone was Jack O’Keeffe from WA’s powerchair hockey team, the Wild West Wheelers.
“He asked me if I’d like to come down and have a go,” Joe says. “I thought, ‘why not?’ So I did.”

When he first started playing, the learning curve was steep.

“When I first started, I just used one of the chairs they had there,” Joe explains. “I had no idea how quick they were, or how heavy.”
The specially designed wheelchairs can reach speeds of up to 18km/h and weigh around 120 kilograms.

“It’s a bit different to traditional hockey. We play with a round ball and there’s a barrier around the arena,” he says. “Getting used to the stick took some time too.”

In 2024, Joe received his own powered wheelchair for hockey through the NDIS, and his teammates were quick to lend a hand with developing his skills, including Scott Topham, who’s recently been selected to represent Australia at the IPCH World Championship 2026 as part of the Australian Sliders.

“I’m getting a lot of coaching from Scotty,” Joe says. “He’s one of the guys going around for Australia and he’s taught me some training drills. We train together as a group too.”